| Type: | NIT |
| Year: | 1970 |
| Teams: | 16 |
| Finalfourarena: | Madison Square Garden |
| Finalfourcity: | New York City |
| Champions: | Marquette Warriors |
| Titlecount: | 1st |
| Runnerup: | St. John's Redmen |
| Gamecount: | 7th |
| Semifinalcount: | 5th |
| Semifinal2: | LSU Tigers |
| Semifinalcount2: | 1st |
| Coach: | Al McGuire |
| Coachcount: | 1st |
| Mop: | Dean Meminger |
| Mopteam: | Marquette |
The 1970 National Invitation Tournament was the 1970 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition. It was unique in that coach Al McGuire of 8th ranked Marquette University, unhappy with his team's NCAA tournament placement in the Midwest rather than the closer Mideast regional, turned down that bid and elected to play in the NIT instead.[1] [2] His Marquette Warriors went on to claim the championship, and as a result the NCAA now forbids its members from playing in other postseason tournaments if offered an NCAA bid.
This tournament represented the final college games for LSU great Pete Maravich, the Men's NCAA all-time leading scorer. Maravich finished his three-year career with 3,667 points, 44.2 per game, records which stand through the 2022–23 season, despite the reinstitution of freshman eligibility (1972–73) and the introduction of the shot clock (1985–86) and 3-point shot (1986–87). It was LSU's only postseason appearance between 1954 and 1979. The Tigers were coached by Pete's father, Press Maravich.
Sixteen teams were selected for the 1970 NIT.
| Team | Conference | data-sort-type="number" | Overall record | data-sort-type="number" | Appearance | Last bid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | 19–5 | 7th | 1969 | |||
| Missouri Valley | 21–5 | 4th | 1957 | |||
| Duke | ACC | 17–8 | 3rd | 1968 | ||
| Duquesne | Independent | 17–6 | 13th | 1968 | ||
| Georgetown | Independent | 18–6 | 2nd | 1953 | ||
| Independent | 16–9 | 1st | Never | |||
| Missouri Valley | 18–8 | 8th | 1969 | |||
| LSU | SEC | 20–8 | 1st | Never | ||
| Independent | 17–7 | 10th | 1966 | |||
| Marquette | Independent | 22–3 | 4th | 1967 | ||
| MAC | 16–7 | 1st | Never | |||
| North Carolina | ACC | 18–8 | 1st | Never | ||
| Big Eight | 18–8 | 1st | Never | |||
| St. John's | Independent | 18–7 | 19th | 1966 | ||
| Yankee | 18–6 | 1st | Never | |||
| WAC | 17–9 | 6th | 1957 |